Chapter 22
Shannon stepped back away from Chris, with a look of shock on her face. "Me? Why would you want me?" He shook his head, trying to speak. "Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. This is going to get back to Justin and someone is going to get hurt, and I don’t want it to be either one of you." Chris started to turn, getting ready to walk away. Shannon put her hand on his shoulder, "Wait, don’t leave. We need to talk about this." He looked up at her through watery eyes, "What else is there to say? I have a thing for my best friends fiancée. Its bad enough I let it slip, but now everyone is going to find out and someone is going to get hurt." He started to walk away again, but she pulled him back once again. "If you don’t tell, I won’t tell. We can keep this between us if you want." He nodded and sat down on the ground, burying his face in his hands. "I’m going to go back inside, but if you ever need to talk, don’t hesitate."
Shannon walked into the living room and everyone went quiet. "What is wrong with Chris?," Justin asked. "He is just really homesick is all. He’ll be fine once we get home."
After awhile of making idle chit-chat, everyone decided it was time to head out. Lance and Joey had the biggest problems leaving Mandi and Tracy behind. They promised to keep in touch and they said their sad good-byes. After about 20 minutes of sobs from Mandi, who was the emotional one, they were on their way. Chris sighed, "Another 17 hour drive? I don’t know if I can make it without some Taco Bell." Justin just laughed, "Now if that wasn’t an idle hint, I don’t know what is."
Once they got home, everyone was dead tired. They dropped Lance and Joey off at the house, noticing that JC’s jeep was gone. They got out of the car, "They are probably out somewhere right now, good thing I remembered my house keys.," Lance said, fishing through his pockets. Soon, Lance and Joey got into their house, and Shannon pulled out of the driveway, heading back home. Shannon let out a sigh, "It was so nice to see my friends again. I didn’t realize how much I missed them until I saw them." Justin just nodded his head as they pulled into their driveway. Chris had been sleeping for a few hours, so they had to wake him up. He never looked so bad in his life. His eyes were bloodshot from crying, and he just looked so tired. They got their bags into the house and Chris went straight to his room without saying anything. "I’m gonna go out and pick up some ice cream, I’ll be back in a few.," Justin told Shannon, giving her a light kiss on the forehead. Once Justin left, Shannon went towards Chris’s room where he was laying face-down on the bed, crying. She lightly knocked on the door, but he didn’t hear her, so she walked in and sat down on the edge of the bed. He must have felt it because he looked up, wiping his eyes. "What are you doing in here?," he asked her gently. She swept the hair falling into her eyes away, "We really need to talk about this. If we don’t, it will be hard living with each other." Chris sat up on the bed, "But what about Justin? Where is he?" She went on to tell him that Justin went out to get ice cream, and he would be back in a little bit. Chris wiped his eyes again, "I really don’t know what there is to talk about. I told you what was bothering me, and I told you how I felt, what else is there?" Shannon stood up and started pacing at the end of the bed, "Well, you could tell me exactly why you feel this way and why you waited until now to let it all out." Chris let out a deep breath, "I really don’t know why I feel this way. It’s really hard to explain. I mean, seeing you and Justin sitting outside, watching the sunset almost every night. You always look so happy when you sit there, looking up into the sky, with your head resting on his shoulder. I often wished that it was me that you were sitting that close to. The way you make Justin so happy when you walk into a room. The way that you make people feel better just with your smile. I think I waited to say it because I didn’t want to mess things up between you and Justin. I was afraid you would laugh at me for feeling this way." Shannon stopped pacing and looked at Chris, seeing the pain in his eyes. "Why would I laugh? I’m flattered that you feel this way, but why me?" He buried his face in his hands again, "I don’t know. I just don’t know. I feel like I shouldn’t even feel this way, but I do, and I don’t know why. Your heart belongs to Justin, and I could never take that away from him." She sat down at the end of the bed again, "That doesn’t answer why you feel the way you do though." He took another deep breath, "If I knew, I would tell you. What bothers me is the fact that Justin always seems to have it better than me." Shannon was shocked by the statement, "What do you mean by that?" He looked into her eyes, "Well, he has you; I don’t have anyone. He is the most popular, and if you think about it, I am the least popular out of the group. He has the looks, and I don’t. So I guess if you want to put it bluntly, I feel this way because I am lonely." Shannon put her hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him, "Who says you have to be lonely?" Just as he was about to answer, they heard Justin in the kitchen calling out for them. Shannon left the room and as she walked out, she turned around to see him lay face-down again and start to cry. "This is going to be harder than I thought," she thought to herself, walking towards the kitchen.
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